Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 459 You screamed until your throat was hoarse, but no one came to save you (Bonus chapter, please vote)
"Commander, the battle at Fenggao is dire. Division Commander Yang has repeatedly requested reinforcements from various units, and the commanders of various army corps have been sending telegrams asking how to handle the situation."

"Immediately telegraph all commanders, forbidding them from looking around or glancing left or right," Gu Mosan ordered immediately.
"According to Plan No. 7, continue advancing into the Yimeng Mountains along the original route!"

Gu Mosan knew very well that the G Army had used Fenggao as bait to catch him, this big fish.

The 72nd Reorganized Division is not part of the Central Army's direct forces. If we were to risk the Central Army's direct forces in order to save him, it would be a losing proposition.

Conversely, if the Nationalist army does not go to the rescue, the main force of the Nationalist army can take advantage of the Nationalist army's division of forces to seize Mengyin and Pingyang, thereby luring the Nationalist army to launch an offensive.

Although it was a bit of a waste to give an entire reorganized division to the G army for nothing, he didn't care how many miscellaneous troops died as long as he could take down the G army's main force.

Hua Yesi had no way to deal with Gu Mosan's stubbornness.

The only option was to simultaneously order the F and L columns to block the 11th and 25th Reorganized Divisions of the Guo Army at Baima Pass and Zijing Pass, while also ordering Chen Chengxing to lead his troops to attack Fenggao.

After receiving the order, Chen Chengxing marched through the night and quickly arrived in Fenggao.

Upon arriving at their positions, the various units immediately launched an attack in four separate routes without taking a break.

Two routes launched an attack on Fenggao, while the other two routes launched a strong attack on the strongholds of Ligaoshan and Laoye Temple outside the city.

Faced with the powerful attack, the two infantry regiments that were holding the strongholds of Ligaoshan and Laoye Temple were wiped out in less than three hours.

Subsequently, apart from 21 teams that retreated to serve as the general reserve, the other three teams launched a general offensive against Fenggao.

As for the remaining other side, it was left to the Nth column.

The Second Division's formidable attack capabilities left the Nth Division's warriors speechless.

Previously, facing the endless bunkers on the Kuomintang's positions, their hair was falling out in clumps.

When they arrived at the Second General Headquarters, the anti-tank guns providing close support dared to find a passage and fire directly among the charging soldiers.

It takes a lot of confidence to do that.

Keep in mind, it's nighttime now.

"Damn it! Let the soldiers learn a thing or two from the Second Commander! We can't keep doing sniping all the time, can we?!"

The commander of the Nth Column used to look down on the Second General Headquarters, a unit not part of the East China Field Army, feeling that it was an army that had been neglected by its stepmother.

It turned out that this was an army that came to raise stepmothers.

Inside Fenggao City, Yang Quan was stunned to learn that two strategic high points outside the city had been swiftly destroyed.

"No, how could it be so fast?"

"Didn't you say on the phone earlier that night that the G army's offensive wasn't that strong?"

"Commander, a report from the outpost outside the city indicates that the G Army has changed personnel," the chief of staff explained.
"The enemy pushed their anti-tank guns and infantry guns directly to the front lines, even further forward than the light machine guns, so that shells could penetrate the bunkers through the firing ports."

Upon hearing the chief of staff's explanation, Yang Quan was speechless.

"What the hell is this lunatic? Has he even learned how to fire a cannon?"

"Chief of Staff, you're going to the front lines. Tell the brothers to hold the line!"

"yes!".
After the chief of staff left, Yang Quan picked up the phone again.

"Commander Wang! The G Army has launched a general offensive! Send troops to support them immediately!"

"Commander Yang, your unit only needs to hold Fenggao to the death. Don't make a fuss or panic! I will handle things properly according to the development of the battle."

Hearing Wang Youping's words, Yang Quan was on the verge of tears.

"Hey! Commander Wang! Commander, according to our reconnaissance, there are three columns of the G Army on the outskirts of Fenggao, one of which is Chen Chengxing!"

"Even if my 72nd Division were made of iron, it couldn't withstand the crushing weight of Mount Tai!"

Despite Chen Chengxing's repeated defeats against the 74th Reorganized Division, he posed a significant threat to these ragtag troops.

He couldn't hold out against just this one unit.

"Commander, Commander! We really can't hold on this time. The G Army has over a hundred mountain guns and heavy mortars!"

"Hang in there a little longer! I'll call the CEO right now!" With that, Wang Youping hung up the phone.

It wasn't that he was unwilling to send troops to the rescue; it was simply that he couldn't make the decision himself.

Hearing the dial tone on the phone, Yang Quan had no choice but to hope that Gu Mo would send troops quickly.

But even as dawn broke, not a single person came, not even a phone call to offer comfort, let alone reinforcements.

After confirming that the KMT aircraft would not be coming, the artillery units began to bombard the KMT positions in Fenggao with great enthusiasm.

Then each team sent out their best demolition experts to begin close-range demolitions.

Around noon, 22 squads were the first to break through the south gate and enter the city. By evening, the other gates had also been breached.

Meanwhile, Yang Quan was still calling for help.

"Commander! Commander! Something terrible has happened!" A combat staff officer scrambled into the temporary command post.

"All the troops defending our four gates have been squeezed into the city by the G army! The G army is very good at urban warfare, and our brothers are being forced into retreat!"

"The chief of staff has been killed in action!"

"Tell the brothers to hold on! Hold on!" Yang Quan shouted, then turned and yelled into the phone:

"Commander Wang! Commander Wang! Please answer! Please answer!"

However, by this time Wang Shuangping had already stopped paying attention to him; the 72nd Division had become a pawn to be abandoned.

The other three units under the Second Army Corps were clearly within 20 kilometers, but they did not take any action.

"Damn it!" Yang Quan slammed the phone on the table, cursing angrily, "Wang Shuangping! You bastard! You're a fucking bastard!"

After speaking into the phone for a few minutes, Yang Quan had no other choice. In order to survive, he picked up the phone again and called Quancheng.

"Hello! Chairman Wang? Chairman Wang? Chairman Wang, this is Yang Quan from Fenggao." "I'm in grave danger. I desperately hope Chairman Wang will lend me a hand for the sake of the Party and the country!"

"If Fenggao is lost, Jinan will be lost too!"

However, this was clearly Yang Quan's desperate attempt to find a solution. After Li Xianzhu's tens of thousands of troops were wiped out, Wang Yaowen had no spare strength to save Fenggao.

He is busy conscripting men to replenish his troops; it would be good enough if he could hold onto a few important cities in Shandong and the area along the Jiaoji Railway.

Undeterred, Yang Quan called out to all the nearby troops again.

However, by the time dawn broke the next day, the 72nd Division of Fenggao had been completely annihilated, and not a single one came to Fenggao's aid.

By the time Yang Quan was captured, his voice was hoarse from shouting, and he could no longer speak.

Holding the statistical documents, Chu Yunfei excitedly reported:

"Commander, the enemy's 72nd Reorganized Division has been completely annihilated, and more than 10,000 people have been captured."

"Four 105mm howitzers and forty-three trucks were captured, along with countless guns and ammunition. Eight Type 41 mountain guns were also captured by the N Column."

"I figured we wouldn't need them, so I had the soldiers hand over the 75mm shells we captured in Fenggao to the N Column. They then gave us some flamethrowers and recoilless rifle shells."

"Yes, I have no objection." Chen Chengxing nodded.

A single flower does not make a spring, and the Second General cannot keep all the spoils for himself; he should only take what is useful to him.

"The field headquarters probably won't take these four howitzers back. They'll just stay at the brigade headquarters and become an independent howitzer company. That way, we won't be without directly subordinate heavy artillery."

The field headquarters already had forty-eight howitzers, but even the howitzer regiment of the T column was not fully equipped with them, but kept a few as spares.

“I have no objection. Ten soldiers will be drawn from each branch, and the rest will be selected from the uprising training regiment,” Luo Ping said.

"Okay, it's settled then." Chen Chengxing nodded.

The number of prisoners this time exceeded ten thousand, and theoretically, whoever captured them should replenish their ranks.

However, the Second Division doesn't need that many people. Apart from the essential technical soldiers, Chen Chengxing will select the best to join the uprising training corps.

They will be assigned to the various companies only after they have completed their education and training.

As they were talking, Chen Chengxing saw Wei Dayong bring over a few people.

"Captain, Political Commissar, when we were clearing out houses in the city, we caught a few big fish!"

"This is Yang Quan, the commander of the 72nd Division," Wei Dayong said excitedly, pointing to the man at the head of the group.

"Are you Yang Quan?" Chen Chengxing asked.

Yang Quan glanced up but didn't say anything.

Wei Dayong went up and slapped Yang Quan's helmet across the face: "You're a prisoner, and you're still putting on airs?! Speak up!"

Helpless, Yang Quan pointed to his throat and opened his mouth to indicate that his vocal cords had torn from shouting and he could no longer speak.

“You’ve been calling for help until your throat is bleeding. What future do you have, a nobody like you, working for Chang Ruiyuan?” Chen Chengxing said.

The Guo army was divided into numerous factions and riddled with contradictions. On the surface, they appeared to be closely united, but in reality, they refused to come to the rescue.

Although Chen Chengxing was right, Yang Quan, as a die-hard, remained unrepentant even after being used as a pawn.

Despite the excruciating pain, Yang Quan spoke through his torn vocal cords, "Yan'an has already fallen, what are you still fighting for?"

"He's so deeply poisoned that he won't even shed a tear when he sees a coffin," Chen Chengxing said disdainfully.

These KMT soldiers who only know how to squat in pits, how could they know what mobile warfare is?

"Take it away."

Chen Chengxing waved his hand; he no longer wanted to talk to Yang Quan, as it would lower his IQ.

"Let's go!" Wei Dayong called to the soldiers beside him to escort Yang Quan and the others to the prisoner-of-war camp.

However, Wei Dayong planned to drive around a couple more times to show off.

This time we were lucky to arrest such a high-ranking official. If no one knows about it, wouldn't it be a waste of time to arrest him?
After completing the clearing of Fenggao, Chen Chengxing and the Nth Division did not linger in the city.

Instead, following the orders of the field headquarters, they immediately moved south to join the B Column in a pincer movement to attack the reorganized 11th Division.

However, just as Chen Chengxing was about to catch up with the 11th Reorganized Division, he suddenly received a telegram.

"Commander, we've received a telegram from the field headquarters. The commander has ordered us to immediately disengage and move to Dawang for covert operations!"

"Now? We're about to catch up with the enemy, why are we breaking away again?" Luo Ping asked, puzzled.

According to the previous battle plan, the various units of the East China Field Army were to split up and launch an attack, engaging the Guo army in a chaotic battle in the Yimeng Mountains.

Why did they suddenly move behind enemy lines to hide and maneuver again?
Looking at the map, Chen Chengxing said, "The fighter jets have most likely already appeared."

"What fighter jet?"

“When we attacked Fenggao before, although the enemy did not fall for our trick, their advance speed has increased. I think the commander is planning to make a move.”

"I just don't know if Noji's appetite is big or small."

Chen Chengxing said he didn't know, but his eyes were fixed on the location of the 74th Division on the map.

"Old Chu, pass on the order: the engineer regiment, the supply regiment, the uprising training regiment, the armored combined arms battalion, and the independent howitzer company shall retreat back to the base area."

"All artillery pieces were switched to being transported by mules and horses. As many shells as possible were carried, and each soldier carried a week's worth of rations."

"The troops will begin a covert march!"

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)